


let me escort you further down the rabbit hole

by Tatsumaki_sama



Series: cross your heart and hope to die [3]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Being Lost, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Light Angst, Magical Realism, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 23:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14779679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatsumaki_sama/pseuds/Tatsumaki_sama
Summary: Makoto accidentally stumbles into a distorted world. She has no choice but to rely on the mysterious Joker to help her.





	let me escort you further down the rabbit hole

**Author's Note:**

> I took some inspiration from the idea from Persona 4 where people can get trapped in the television world. For the context of this story, although the Metaverse is not accessible to humans, there may be times where 'cracks' can happen (usually when a Palace is involved) and humans can fall through. I originally wanted to include Morgana in this but it didn't quite fit in so I'll add him another time.

It all began because students, including some from Shujin, were being extorted in Shibuya.

 

Principal Kobayakawa demanded that Makoto take action and investigate the cause of this.

 

She wanted to protest, surely if the police and authorities couldn't figure it out, how could she? But the constant pressures of Kobayakawa and her sister's own disappointment and resentment in her compelled Makoto to devote all her attention and time into the matter.

 

Unfortunately for her, this resulted in her going to Shibuya to examine the situation firsthand and somehow arriving at a place that couldn't possibly be Shibuya.

 

The sky, buildings and streets were shadowed and hazy like a darkened, overcast mist. Money floated freely across the air, vanishing as soon as she tried to inspect one. And above her directly was an ever looming building that appeared to be a _bank_ floating the sky, defying all logic.

 

In lieu of people, walking ATM machines with humanoid arms and legs ambled about, minding their own business. Several of them were lying in the streets, fizzling and beeping, while others simply walked right past them.

 

Feeling a strange mix of pity and curiosity, Makoto approached the nearest one. “ H-hello? Are you okay?”

 

“ I don't want to end up like the others!” it suddenly cried out, its voice mangled and stuttering. “ You'll help me, won't you? You look like a person with money. Won't you lend me some money?”

 

She took a step back. “ Sorry, I – I don't – ”

 

The ATM seized the hem of Makoto's skirt, nearly dragging her down. “ Please! Even if it's just a 100 yen! I need it! You have the money, don't you? Give it to me!”

 

She could feel hands suddenly grabbing and pawing at her legs. She bit back a scream as she turned around to see more ATMs crowding around her, desperate enough to even shove and crash into each other in their haste to get to her.

 

“ Give me the money first! The money! Me first! Give it!”

 

A cascade of voices descended into a frenzied shriek.

 

Makoto tried to disentangle the shadowy hands from her, but their grip refused to budge. Sparks from the nearest ATM's 'face' sizzled and popped, stinging against her skin. “ Please! Let go of me! You're hurting me!” she gasped.

 

“ Money! Money! Money!”

 

Their voices rose in a chant, snapping at Makoto's ears, as their hands continued to claw up her legs, digging into her arms, yanking at her shirt.

 

She couldn't move. She couldn't think. She was frozen in place.

 

Until –

 

A crimson gloved hand shot out and grabbed the one shadowy arm that was inching its way to her throat.

 

“ She doesn't have the money you want.”

 

A voice smooth, dark and velvety spoke dangerously and yet reassuringly close behind Makoto.

 

The gloved hand tightened over the arm.

 

“ Leave her be.”

 

The ATMs gave a vicious snarl.

 

There was a flash of blue fire coming from the gloved hand, fanning out, close enough to scorch but not enough to turn to ash. A warning, if Makoto had ever seen one.

 

Regardless, it worked. The ATMs scattered away from them.

 

With a pained scream, the one ATM closest to Makoto finally released her, stumbling back and collapsing with a smouldering, spluttering sizzle.

 

The air Makoto had been holding in all this time, she could finally exhale it out in a shaky breath.

 

“ Are you all right?”

 

She turned around to see a dark-haired boy not much older than her, dressed in strangely elegant and stylish clothing and wearing a silver ornate mask, all of which that made him look like a –

 

“ I take it you are the Phantom Thief,” Makoto said with all the steadiness she could muster into her voice, even if her hands wouldn't stop quivering.

 

He indulgently smiled, making him look young and boyish. “ And I believe you are the student council president of Shujin Academy,” he said, mimicking her tone.

 

How he knew that, Makoto was not in a rush to find out.

 

The nearby ATMs shifted restlessly, watching them like hawks, murmuring needlessly.

 

“ It's not safe here. Come this way.”

 

Joker casually slipped his arm around Makoto's and began to lead her away. It unnerved her how easily it was for her to allow him to do so.

 

~.~.~

 

They walked in silence for some time down the distorted streets. More ATM humans were mingling in the streets. Perhaps recognizing whose company she was with, they wisely did not approach her again.

 

“ Where are you taking me?” she finally asked.

 

“ Somewhere safe,” Joker said. His lip curled in amusement as her skeptical expression. “ Don't trust me?” He grinned, showing off flawlessly white teeth.

 

“ I haven't decided yet,” she cautiously said.

 

Joker actually chuckled. “ Fair enough, Miss Student Council President.”

 

There was something universally unfair about how warm and safe her designation sounded against his tongue. Ever since Kamoshida's crimes were publicly exposed, the title she bore was nothing more than a plague as students eyed her disdainfully in the hallways and whispered incessantly behind her back that she helped Kamoshida and the school cover up his abuses.

 

The way Joker said it was not mocking or scornful. If anything, he referred to her with the uttermost respect and politeness.

 

And for all the unpleasant rumors she had heard, the Phantom Thief had yet to do something that would make her feel threatened. His arm was held loosely over hers, easy enough for anyone to break free if they chose to. He led her to brightly lit (or as bright as this shadowy world they were in allowed) streets with plenty of space and routes that she would not feel trapped or cornered.

 

Feeling slightly flustered, Makoto turned her attention to the streets. “ Where are we exactly?”

 

“ Inside the world of a person's heart.”

 

If anyone else was saying it, Makoto wouldn't have believed it. But to think she was conversing with _the_ Phantom Thief, the urban legend her own father and sister had spoken about in hushed or incredulous tones, she was almost giddy with excitement. “ So by entering into this world, you can steal someone's heart, can't you?” she hypothesized.

 

Joker smiled cryptically but said nothing else. He seemed to be amused by the way her brow furrowed and how deep in thought she was.

 

“ I do hope you don't intend on leading a police force in here,” he wryly said. She turned red; she wasn't even thinking about that, only the possibilities and magnitude of Joker's abilities to appease her own curiosity. “ It wouldn't end well for them.”

 

His tone was light but his last words were much of a threat as it was a warning.

 

She swallowed. “ I'll keep that in mind.”

 

Joker seemed satisfied and left the matter at that.

 

But Makoto still had other questions. Her sister might have been pleased to know that Makoto was gaining better proficiency at gathering information.

 

“ Are you here to steal that person's heart?” she enquired.

 

“ Not really,” Joker shrugged. His eyes were intent on observing the streets. “ I'm here for another reason.”

 

Makoto wondered if the Phantom Thief was here for the same reasons she was and just which person's heart that they were currently in. Was it possible that this world belonged to Kaneshiro?

 

Joker wasn't even looking at her. Rather than press the topic, she asked instead, “ How was it possible that I was able to enter this world?”

 

“ You happened to be a very unlucky person to come across a rare gateway between worlds.”

 

“ Gateway? I don't recall – ”

 

“ Of course you wouldn't.” Joker smiled but it was devoid of any humor. “ It's how this world operates. If you get lucky, you can find a fracture to return back to the human world without any injury.”

 

“ Does that happen often?”

 

“ Not really,” he honestly said. “ The breaks and cracks come and go, depending on the person's heart, and they may not show up at the same place twice. It's more likely that the Shadows of this world will find you first.”

 

“ Shadows?”

 

“ Creatures like the ATM you saw. They are manifestations and cognitions of people's negative emotions and their perception of how they see people and objects.”

 

She slowly processed that. “ And what happens when the Shadows find you?”

 

“ You die.” The flippant tone in Joker's voice didn't match his grim expression. “ Either the Shadows find and consume you or the ruler of this world seize and kill you for intruding. Not a fate I would wish on anyone.”

 

And Makoto was almost made one of its many victims.

 

She shuddered, thinking if not for Joker, she would have joined her father in death and left her sister behind to mourn without knowing what truly happened to her.

 

A sudden thought struck her. For all his talk about how dangerous the world was, Joker did not seemed inclined to leave so soon. In fact, throughout their entire conversation, Joker's attention appeared to be elsewhere, eyes searching and scanning the streets.

 

“ You are looking for someone,” Makoto softly said, realization dawning upon her. “ Someone like me who had accidentally came into this world.”

 

This time, Joker's eyes flicked towards her.

 

Her mind raced. Add in the fact that students were being targeted by extortion rings in Shibuya, there was only one conclusion as to why Joker would invest so much time into it.

 

“ You are looking for Ann Takamaki and Ryuji Sakamoto, aren't you?”

 

He gazed at her with an inscrutable emotion. “ You are a sharp one, Miss Student Council President.”

 

“ I did not realize you three were friends,” she carefully said.

 

“ To call us friends ... is not entirely correct.” Was that a hint of hesitation in Joker's voice Makoto detected? How interesting. “ Fate would have it that we have become connected and through our association, they have been involved with things that are unconsciously seeking them out.”

 

So it was both guilt and worry that drove Joker to come here. And regardless of what he said, underneath his cool exterior, he did consider Ann Takamaki and Ryuji Sakamoto to be close to him. Joker would not be so invested and constantly (and anxiously, Makoto wryly noted) trying to find them in this distorted world if they were merely associates or strangers.

 

It made the Phantom Thief, for lack of a better word, more human.

 

“ Then we have to find them quickly,” Makoto said earnestly.

 

Joker raised an eyebrow at her. “ Meddling into my affairs already, Miss Student Council President?” he drawled.

 

And yet, there was a glimmer of gratitude in his eyes.

 

There were so many sides and masks to Joker she had come across in such a short time and Makoto wondered if she only scratched the surface.

 

She was determined to discover them all.

 

 


End file.
